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Thursday, January 07, 2010

2010 Organization-The Kitchen & Pantry

I love to organize, I really do. I love the challenge of it. What I don't like is the upkeep. It is much easier for me to spend hours cleaning out a cabinet or a closet, than to spend a few minutes every day keeping it up. What is the deal w/ that? Mark was out of town all week, and I have been reading lots of decorating and organizing blogs. The combination of the 2 inspired me to clear out the clutter! Project #1 is the kitchen. I took EVERYTHING out of the cabinets. Vacuumed, scrubbed, purged, and then put it all back together. The kids were pretty sure I had lost it and warned me Dad would not like the mess I was making! Mark does not understand to make things look better, there is a huge mess in the process!

This would be the mess the children were talking about. And yes, my Christmas decor is ALL up still. But that is a 2 adult job and so I was not tackling that on my own. See my cute new lap top, LOVE it. Oh I really really do!This is the tupperware cabinet before. Love this has the roll out drawers. Also home of the 5 crock pots I own. One can never have to many crock pots if you ask me!

And one of the cabinets. The sippy cup cabinet that used to attack me when I opened the door! Much better, though I think we could still stand to get rid of a few more cups!

A tip I am sure you have all heard of. Empty out all your utensils. As you need one, put it back into the drawer. Those you have not used after a certain time, get rid of. This is my bag of spoons, spatulas, pampered chef gadgets, (not that I would ever get rid of those since my sister in law sells that!) Some things I know I might only use once a year, but once a year, I like them! so they have already been put back in the drawer. There are many things I doubt I will ever use unless I become a gourmet cook. And I promise you that is not happening in this lifetime. I took this theory with alot of my kitchen gadgets.. Quesadilla maker? Wok? 2 ice cream makers? Waffle Maker? I put them in the bin & if I have not used it by this summer, out of here

And this is the last cabinet I still need to do. My recipe cabinet. I did have it all nice at one time. And then with all the empty space I made I filled it with more junk. And most of those cookbooks, I do not use! Though they are fun to browse through at times. I hope to have it done this weekend. Unless I put up the Christmas stuff. Which would probably make more sense.

My favorite of the kitchen organizing. I found this idea on those great organizing blogs I have been reading. I have always had a hard time figuring out what to do with the spices. They are in my pantry, thrown in a basket, and anytime I need to find one, it takes a very long time. I had one of those merry go round thingys at one time, but those don't work for me. Do not hold enough, etc.. I was looking for a shelf to hang on my wall when I saw this great idea. Label the TOPS of each bottle, then keep them together alphabetically. GENIUS idea! One person actually used their label maker and labeled each thing, but I was to lazy to go on the hunt for mine. So I just grabbed a sharpie, and some masking tape for the dark colors.

So I went from complete chaos of having to pull out every spice to find what I needed, to knowing what it was, just by glancing at the top! I also realized I had 3 jars of cumin, 2 jars of poppy seeds among other doubles. Poppy seeds, I think some yummy ham sandwiches are on the menu soon!Close up view, makes me happy all over again just to see how nice it looks!

2 comments:

Beautiful!! I spent my Christmas vacation organizing my house - it all began in my closet - and continued through the house - I still have the boys rooms to go -Yuck! Doesn't it feel good to open a cabinet or door and not have everything fall at you! :)A clear cabinet makes a clear mind! :)